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The Extended Railway Series - Don't Judge Before You Know
There were no other engines that could be spared, so whilst Blandford’s repairs were carried out, Duck and Oliver were left to manage the ballast traffic as well as their usual passenger duties. But whilst most of the ballast had been recovered following the accident, it still meant a lot of extra work for the two tank engines. “Why would Blandford go against our advice about the tunnel?” Oliver pondered. “Blister II told me the answer to that one” replied Duck, and he told him about their discussion earlier that day. “So he does hold something against us,” sighed Oliver. “Have you spoken to him about it?” “I haven’t had the chance, but I can only hope there’ll be some chance of a resolution.” The two engines had to take loads of ballast in conjunction with their passenger trains. This system worked well for several weeks, but one day there was trouble. Duck was waiting at the chute ready for loading before his first passenger run, but Rex was running late. “Where is he?” he muttered anxiously, “He doesn’t usually make us wait.” Eventually, Rex arrived and quickly pushed the trucks into place onto the chute for load Duck’s train to be loaded. “Sorry to keep you” wheezed Rex. “One of the local cows strayed on the line again. Put up a good fight too…” but Rex’s story was cut short. The workmen finished loading and Duck hurried out of the yard to make up for lost time. It had rained heavily during the night, and the rails were slippery. Duck realised that making up for lost time would be tricky, but unfortunately for him so did the trucks. “Let’s see how cross he’ll really get. Hold back, hold back!” “Come along, come along!” shouted Duck impatiently. He began to work harder in order to prevent the train from slowing down. But when they reached the hill leading to the tunnel, he began to feel tired. He began to climb the slope, but his wheels began to slip on the wet rails. “COME ON, COME ON!” he puffed with determination. But it was no use. The train eventually slid to a standstill. “Not another hold up!” moaned the Driver despairingly. “Ah well, back to the bottom and let’s start again.” So they backed down to beyond the foot of the climb and stopped. Then the crew walked up the hill placing plenty of sand on the rails. Once they reached the tunnel, they walked back to Duck. “This time, we’ll have to keep climbing when we’re in the tunnel” said the Fireman. “Right you are” agreed Duck. “Here goes!” And with a powerful blast from his whistle, Duck started off again. This time he didn’t take any notice of the trucks. He stormed up the hill with all the steam he could spare. With a mighty effort, he raced through the tunnel and coasted down towards the Big Station. “Hurrah!” cheered Duck, “I’ve beaten them, I’ve beaten them!” By the time Duck arrived at the platform he was late and feeling exhausted. His Driver and Fireman were worn out too. “And now we need to go back and collect the next passenger train too,” sighed the Driver. “Oh, where’s Blandford when you need him?” gasped Duck sadly. “He may have said some bad things about us, but if only I could explain the situation to him...” Then, he heard a whistle in the distance. He looked towards the end of the station and saw a dark blue engine glistening in the sunlight coming towards him. It was, of course…“BLANDFORD!” Duck whistled happily. And in a state of guilt he blurted out, “Oh I’m so glad to see you. Look, I’m very sorry about what happened to your line, but I just want you to know I didn’t have anything to do with it. Can you ever forgive Oliver and I?” But Blandford wasn’t angry at all. “There’s no need to beg for my forgiveness Duck; you’ve done nothing wrong. It was I who wronged you.” Duck was surprised. “You mean you don’t blame us for your line closing down?” “No, no of course not,” chuckled Blandford. “I just want to say I’m very sorry for misjudging you. While I was at the Works I met Donald and Douglas being overhauled, and they explained everything. I realise now that not all you ol’ Westerners are the same. And I further realise that it wasn’t the Westerners themselves who closed my line down, but their Controllers. It’s their controllers who are all the same!” “I’ll second that,” laughed Duck. “Now then,” continued Blandford, “I’d be hearing that there’s tons of ballast needing shifting.” “Care to do the honours?” “Leave it to me! Just leave those trucks here and I’ll take care of the ballast trains for the rest of the day.” And so it was arranged. Duck and Blandford went back and forth along the branch line without any further trouble. Oliver was watching from the shed in abashment. “Well, what do you know? I hardly believed I’d see the day – Blandford happy to work with us.” That night in the shed, the Fat Controller returned to see them. “It’s good to have you back in service Blandford. I just hope you’ve learned your lesson about judging others before you get to know them.” “Ooh-arr sir, I have that” said Blandford foolishly. “I’ve got some good news for you all,” continued the Fat Controller, “I’ve got plans to better ventilate that tunnel, so you’ll have no more trouble with suffocating your crews.” “Thank you sir” smiled Oliver. “Does this mean that Blandfords’ here to stay?” The Fat Controller paused impressively. “I see no reason why not.” The engines and their crews all cheered with delight. “Oh and, by the way,” smiled Blandford, “you’d all have to forgive me for jumping to conclusions like that. It’d be in my nature, ya see.” The bulk of the ballast work was quickly completed and soon the peak season arrived. Donald and Douglas had now been mended and both feel as good as new. They still work on the Little Western from time to time. But Blandford the Somerset Engine has now stayed on as a full time resident. As for Blandford himself, he still jumps to conclusions from time to time. But in the end, you can always rely on him to help out in a tricky situation…. as long as you don’t mention the closing of his railway, of course.